The weekend of Nov. 9-11 John Glenn High School's String Sounds traveled eight hours to St. Louis, Missouri for a weekend filled with music, fun and excitement.

"I was tired from the bus ride, but I was happty to get there," said String Sounds director Dawnell Graham.

String Sounds was the only group not from the St. Louis area. There were a total of four high schools and one middle school who participated at the convention.

The weekend was jam-packed with group rehearsals and sectionals. String Sounds was given five new pieces of music to learn a couple of weeks in advance of the convention. They were "THe Devil Went Down to Georgia," "Sing, Sind, Sing," "Orange Blossom Special," "Choo Choo" and "That's Entertainment."

"The music was challenging and it was good for us to explore new styles," said Graham.

String Sounds members got to experience something they are not used to. Four of the five songs they learned also included choreography.

Students from the schools were also given the opportunity to show off in front of the other students, chaperones and directors at the luncheon strolls. While everyone else was eating, a school would get to perform for them. John Glenn students received an incredible response to their song "Melody of Love."

"Being able to sing the 'Devil Went Down to Georgia' and getting the loudest applause at the both the luncheon stroll and the banquet was the best part of the trip," said senior member James Harris.

On the final night of the convention all the schools came together to perfrom at a large banquet for parents of the local schools and other individuals.

Each of the schools got to perform a small selection of their show for the audience and everyone performed the five group numbers together.

"String Sounds performed well and received a positive response from the audience," said Graham. "The banquet was a nice chance for the students to present all they had learned over the weekend.

On Sunday the students go to go to the City Museum. Don't let the title of "museum" fool you; the City Museum is like agiant playground where everything has been recycled.

The City Museum is having its 10-year anniversary this year. There were caves, a ball pit and areas to climb around.

"My favorite part was the Enchanted Caves at the City Museum because I felt like I was going to get stuck," said freshman Cole Coulter.

A person could easily get lost in the museum.

(Other reporters who contributed to this story were Morgan Gerlach and David Watson.)